Cosmic Evolution – New Exhibition at the Deutsches Museum Features ESO

From 9 December 2009

Credit: Die Werft/ESO

From tomorrow, 9 December 2009, visitors to the world-renowned Deutsches Museum in Munich will be able to embark on the ultimate journey through time, as the new Cosmic Evolution exhibition opens its doors. A perfect grand finale to the International Year of Astronomy 2009, the exhibition is the result of a cooperation involving five local research institutions, including ESO, and is set for a two-year run. An opening ceremony takes place today at the museum.

Visitors will be able to follow the trail of cosmic evolution, from the birth of space, time and matter to the formation of the network of filaments of galaxy clusters that is the Universe's large-scale structure. Back in the present, the visitor explores the life cycles of stars, the structure and evolution of galaxies — including the role played by the enigmatic black holes — before catching a glimpse of the future: what do scientists know about our Universe's eventual fate?

Weaving together astronomy, astro-, nuclear and particle physics, the exhibition offers a comprehensive view of cosmic history, which includes multimedia presentations of cutting-edge research.

Hands-on experiments allow visitors to unravel the mysteries of the cosmic background radiation — the electromagnetic echo of the Big Bang, discover the crucial role of dark matter, and find out about the origin of elements such as oxygen, iron and gold that we take for granted on Earth.

The exhibition is a cooperative venture between five Munich- and Garching-based research institutions: